Display-tray construction for show cases



April 17, 1926.

J. F; GOOD DISPLAY TRAY CONSTRUCTION FOR SHOW CASES Filed Sept. 27. 1926/0 JE-Q 5 d 5 gnwnto o Patented Apr. -17, 1928.

UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

DISPLAY-TRAY CONSTRUCTION ion snow, CASES'.

This invention relates to improveme'fits in tray constructions.

The primar object of this invention is the provision of a'himprovedti'ayconstruction Whieh is pfe'fer'tt'bly' adzipted to sup port car'ic'liesand othefartiles' o'fihercha'ndise in an orderly and seg'ieg'ate'direlation;

adapted t0-be used'bn the shelving of show blag of trays Wh-i'h' a'ierelatively detaeh= able with have; sepziiittihgfl means" to conneet thesame in thedsiied; ritlxhbelf 'oor'rsis'tent With the dirfie fiioiis' ofthe show case; Other objects and advantages of this in- Vejitih Willb'ehppareht'during the course of the following detailed description.

In the accompanying drawing; formin a part ofthis spe'eific'ation, andwherein slimi la'r i'fe'i'en'ce 'charz ic'ters designate cor'respondih'gf parts thfoiighout the, seire1"g1tl views,

Figure 1 isa' persp'eoti'veview of the imroved tray v eohst'i'uc't'ioh,'showifi'g the as semblalg'e of parts therho'i; Fi ureQ is ane'r'llztfg'ed fragment ry seetional View taken along" 'the'f separatingline between adjacent tfays. V

tional View takefi at the jmicthre qr j o'iflt be tween adjacent trays;showing the detachable arrangementof parts".

Figure 4 is a fragmentary seeth'ynal view showing the novel mannehinwhich" theimprovedtray cooperates with at hohv'entionh show caseeoiistriltion, in the shot? ease and pfvefitfalling of anycan'die'sofziftiel's extfiol'fly of the tray! In the drawin Wh'efeififor the puipose 0f illus-tfitidh is shOWnOIfly a prefe 'ted lfibodimentof the invention, the letter A may generally designate" the im'pr'oved.'t'rgy f construction, which mayc''ofis'is't"'of at phnzvlity of trays Bheldltogether, by at novel chah i'e'l shaped retztiiiiiigr'fiehrihi'G"withihwhich a separating plate oiiglassfD may po'opeiateto-sepetraf the eftieles'ofth'e tjfeys ffoin' each other. timid. assistin the rettiinin'g of the ways in at hareh hhh eii.d"efiieiehtassembled-ra t0 fill t e s ace-wi h,

T me- 1;- are of conventional immsta ndihg 'e ndwills 11 tind- I2; andthe up? standing l'ongi tudindlly' extending side wens 13 and 14; Thetop edges of the e'n'd Walls 11 1 and 12 may be headed! of oiitWard-lyrolled or-flifiged in a compact relation, with the efids cif the rollsor beads b'liihtly formed to prevefit tearing 8f the" hand; o catehihgion-othefpatfts' V I At the side vif zil-ls 1-3 and 14:; trayB' hhh-shepee retaining flaii-g es -17; h; the up'pe edges (if'the WalIs-B511314, the same being bent at the exterior sides (sf-the sidewalls 13Mid 14, into 8, spaleed sfibstiinh ly pafalll taxation therewith to 'prv' ide downwardly fac ng 19. 1 Thiis,-"eachof the trays" pi#:Wikies' theside {vans thereof, with which 'the metfihis C and D cdoperete' iii Ordetrays inan assembled fi'efal-lel r'eletiofi safne plane.-

The member 0 is" preffahly 0i metal, and v is of U-shafid formation;'iheledingthe up grooves "of pockets em maintainthe I in the neete'dby'a' bottom-Q2. Y The'wells 20 and-21 at their upper'e ds or edgesthefe'of the e obstructed a'iid adapted tofitfsmigfy fin frictionalefig' agerherit-ifi the-'giofive's' 19 of the Walls 13 ariditrespectively, as i's illusti'ated in-Fi'g'uhhe' (if the drawing. Wheninthis positioh'z'ind irise'fted to the fullest extent-iii the g'rooi ee"19 the-meteining or chnfieeti-ng merhher G has the hesor Bottom f 22theie'df lyi'iig flush int-he same plane Wit'h'the bottoms 10 of theadj-acehetmys. The 'U- haped whitening-member G is V'er'j ntfirr ow,and't-he pocket 25-provide'ci therein "reiembly of 1 is of it widthshflicieht to'comfoltahly'reeeii e V I the separator pIatD'ifiaffictioffal relation l0") can only be disconnected by manually pullingthe separator plates or members D upwardly out of their pockets 25. j 1

As can readily be understood by those skilled in the art to which thisinvention relates, the trays in assembled relation are placed on theshelving of a show case. As

I the front walls of such show cases are ordinarily inclined. to thevertical, it is preferred to bevel the front edges 30 .of the glassseparating plates C, which abut against the inside of the show caseplate, as is readily apparent.

Since show cases, are not of standard length, but vary considerable itwill be desirable to have'the end trays B adjustable as to width, and tothis end the said end trays each comprise an inner section 35 connectedto an adjacent tray B of the several connected intermediate trays B inthe relation above described, and a second outer section 36 which isslidable with. respeetv to the section 35 transversely of the lengthofthe tray B. The section 35 has the outer side wall thereof removed, andthe tray section 86 is telescopic therein; the tray section 36 includinga bottom 37, with the upstanding end Walls 38 and. '39 spaced so thatthey may slide in abutment at the inner sides of the end walls of thetray section 35. The adjustable section 36' at the side thereof whichtelescopes into the tray section 85 has no upstanding side wall, but anouter upstanding side wall 40 is provided therefor, which may be movedrelative to the upstanding side wall 13 of the tray section 35, andrelative to the several connected intermediz lte trays B. as is readilyapparent from Figure 1. of the drawing. a

As is illustrated inFigure 4 of the drawing very often beads or retainerfillets 46 are provided, in show cases at the juncture of the bottom 47of the show case with the plate glass wall 48, and in. order to placethe end traysso as to prevent the falling of the merchandise in the saidend trays into the space between the end wall 40 of the end tray B, andthe wall 48 of the show case, it is preferred to provide an upwardlyextending flanged portion 50 at the top edge of the wall 40, integraltherewith, which may be bent outwardly into an inclined outwardlyflaring relation, as illustrated in Flgure 4, until the top thereof atits upper edge abuts the inner side of the show case wall 48, and thusprevents articles of mer chandise falling into the space between theWalls 40 and 48, sincethis space cannot be eliminated when the fillets46 are provided, as is Well understood. The trays B at the end Walls maybe also formed, if necessary,

with like flanges 50; The flanges 50 as they are shipped for useare inthe same plane as the walls 40, but are only bent, in the'application ofthe tray structure to the show cases.

From the foregoing description of this invention it is apparent that anovel type of tray construction has been provided, for the efficientsegregation of articles of merchandise, especiallysmall articles, suchas can dies and the like; the improved tray construction embodying a:plurality of trays which may be effectively connected in an assembledrelation with any desired num ber of the same held together; the trayconstruction due to the adjustability ofthe end trays being of suchnature that the same may entirely fill a shOW case shelf and a verydesirable display. a

Various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be madeto the form of invention herein shown and described, without departingfrom the spirit of the 'in-' vention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a tray construction for displaying merchandise the combination ofa pair of thusjrender' trays having side walls with flanged portions atthe outer 'sides thereof providing downwardly facing grooves, asubstantially U-shaped connecting piece including side walls andproviding a pocket between the side walls, the side walls of theU-shaped connecting piece receivedat their. upper ends in the grooves ofthe trays to retain the trays in a connected relation, and: a separatingplate inserted in the pocket of the U-shaped connector piece and thelower end of said separating plate disposed. in frictional engagementwith the outer sides of the flanges of said trays.

2. In a tray construction tl'iecoi'nbination of a pair of trays havingsidewalls with hooked-shaped flanges at the outer sides thereofproviding downwardly facing grooves, a relatively narrow U-shapedconnecting memberhaving upstanding legportions connected at their lowerends, the upper ends of said leg portions beingadapted to be received inthe grooves of the side walls of said trays, the U-shaped memberproviding a pocket which opens upwardly between said flanges of the sidewalls of the trays, and a separating plate insertable at its lower endinto the pocket formed by the'U-shaped connector into frictionalabutment against said flanges of the trays to outwardly flex the legs ofthe U-shaped connector member and effectively clamp the trays in adetachable conneetion.

lit?

3. In a tray construction of the class described a pair of trays havingbottom walls and upstanding end and side walls, the side walls at theouter sides thereof and at the top thereof being provided with flangesbent outwardly and downwardly to provide downwardly facing grooves, anelongated channel-shaped connector member having side legs and aconnecting bottom, the con lu nector member providing a pocket-thereinbetween-the side legs, the side legs received to connect said trays, anda separating wall vclamped in'the pocket at its lower end in frictionalabutment with the flanges of the trays to outwardly flex the legs' ofsaid connector member in an eflicient clamping relation. i

JOHN 'F. eoon

